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Date: April 7, 2006
Author: Sharon Navarro

ART WEEK AT EXPLORIT

Leonardo da Vinci blurred the lines between art and science by mastering painting, inventions and engineering.

Just in time for the anniversary of da Vinci's birthday April 15, Explorit Science Center is celebrating the interconnections between art and science through hands-on Spring Break Workshops, April 10 through 15.  

Each day a different art and science topic is explored. The Monday through Friday workshops are offered twice, once in the early afternoon (12:15 - 1:30 p.m.) requiring advance registration and a second time in later in the afternoon (2:15 - 4:30 p.m.) in a drop-in format.

Visitors can tap into Mother Nature's treasure trove at the "Nature's Palette" workshops on Monday by using natural materials to create collages, make seed mosaic and produce prints with leaves and flowers while learning about the structures and functions of plants.

Tuesday's "Beautiful Bubbles" workshops will have participants sculpting, painting and more as they learn about these delicate spheres of air trapped inside liquid balls that refract light into a rainbow of colors.

Surface tension, chromatography and hydrophobic properties may not sound like artistic terms, but they're all important to understanding and creating colorful chemical concoctions like marbled paper and more at the "Colorful Chemistry" workshops on Wednesday.

At Thursday's "Tinkering Toys" workshops, participants can experiment with kaleidoscopes to view the world in new and interesting ways, explore motion and balance by spinning tops and make artistic toys to take home.

Participants in Friday's "Illustrious Illusions" workshops will learn how the mind plays tricks on us by creating art that seems to move when spun, appears when flipped or changes when viewed through colored filters.

Art week will culminate with the "Maggot Art!" drop-in program on Saturday. Forensic entomologist Rebecca Bullard will lead this program where visitors can use different colors of non-toxic paint and live maggots to create artwork that's safe for everyone including the maggots. Participants will also learn about maggots and their role in forensic science. This program is offered only as a drop-in workshop from 1 to 4:00 p.m. Maggot Art! is free with paid museum admission and is sponsored by Davis Waste Removal.

Advance registration workshops are $6.00 for each child (or $3.00 for members). Drop-in workshops, which do not require reservations, are free for members or free with paid admission to the museum exhibition. Adult participation is required in both types of programs.

As for the differences between the workshops, program director Mackenzie Tysell explained, "A great advantage of reserving a spot in a workshop is that participants will have the opportunity to go into more depth with their projects and museum admission is included in the price too!" With the exception of "Beautiful Bubbles," there's still room in all of the advance registration workshops.

"Sign ups will be taken until one hour before the start time, so we encourage the public to call as soon as possible to reserve a spot," she said.

Also as part of the Art Week at Explorit, local artists will have art on display.

"An Explorit classroom will be transformed into an art studio for the week. Two area artists, Diana Jahns Childress and Chris Daubert, will have their works on display," said Tysell.

"Diana is a pastel artist who paints landscapes. She uses photography to frame her work and paints what she sees. Explorit will have some pastels available so that visitors can try their hands at making some landscapes of Mace Ranch Park features.

"Chris works with various media including silk screening images on metal and then letting natural processes take over. His pieces change over time as the oxygen in the air rusts the images," Tysell said.

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Explorit hosts "Family Astronomy Night" tomorrow. Starting at 7:00 p.m. Dr. Chris Fassnacht will present a lecture on gravitational lenses and black holes for teens and adults, while children can participate in guided hands-on activities. Then from 8-9:30 p.m., step outside to look through telescopes with the assistance of the UC Davis Astronomy Club (weather permitting). A Dennis Smith Family Astronomy Program.

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Explorit Science Center is at 3141 Fifth St. in East Davis. The current exhibition "What an Animal! Fins and Feathers and Other Creature Features" runs through June 11. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.explorit.org or call Explorit at (530) 756-0191.